Engine-starting device.



A. G. WELLS.

ENGINE STARTING DEVISE.

APPLIUATION FILED 00T; 2a, 1911.

Patented Feb.17,1914.

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`explosive engine and clutch or 'UNITED i STATES ARTHUR C. WLLS, OF AMITYVILLE, NEW YORK.

ENGINESTARTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 23, 1911.

Serial No. 656,306.

To all '207mm it may concern Be it =known that I, ARTI-itin C. IVELLS, of Amityville, Suffolk county, New York, have. invented a new and useful Improvement in Engine-Qtarting Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in engine starting mechanism, and more especially to means for starting or cranking an when the engine is arranged on an automobile, although the device shown can be. used for starting any similar engine.

ln carrying my invention into practice I provide means for starting the engine shaft by the operation 0f a lever which is within ieaen of the seat of the automobile. This is not new broadly, but where such levers have been used they have usually been combined with rather complicated mechanism which liliely to get out of order, and furthermore they have generally been arranged so that any baeleiire or reversal of the engine would seriously yank on the mechanism and on the arm of the operator.

-Thc objects of my invention are. tiist to provide a very simple and etfective meansl for starting the, engine shaft from t-lie drivers seat, next to arrange the operative conf'ncctiiiin between the lever and the engine shaft so thatthe movement of the lever both forward and back will impart a constant `niovenient to the engine shaft iu one direction, and linally to construct and arrange the apparatus so that in ease of a bacletire there will be scarcely any shock to the driver.

Reference is to behail to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specitic; tion, in which similar reference characters indicate correspondinicil parts in all the views. Figure l isa side elevation of my improved apparatus as applied to an autoi'ii'obile. Fig. is an end 'icw of the same. Fig. I-l is an enlarged` longitudinal sectionot' the drum 'asing connection with the en gine shaft. Fig. l. is a cross scctioiioii the 4line 4--4 of Fig.V Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a modified form of clutch connection between the drinn on the engineshaft and its iin-,losing` easing. Fig.

(i isa detail side elevation of the operating lever, and Fig.

starting the engine shaft.

tus applied to an autinnobile l() which can he of any approved type, and which has the l:'.istoniary arrangement of itsv engine shaft.

7 is a diagram of the cable 'and connect-ions for In the. drawing I have. shown my appara- 1l, this being arranged horizontally beneath the machine body. On the engine lshaft is a fixed drum 12, and in this connection I Wish to call attention to the fact that the drum is keyed directly to the shaft without the intervention of any clutch or other detachable mechanism, thus greatly .simplifying the apparatus. The drum 12 is inclosed -by a two-part casing 13 and 13, each part serving as a separate pulley and drawings. The faces of these pulley sections or casings are preferably groovedto receive the operating cable hereinafter referred to. -Eaeh pulley or casingl 13 has a slipping or clutch connection with the drinn 1Q, and I prefer to use the Well-known' ball gearing shown in Fig. 4., in which case the pulley or casing 13 has recesses la the outer walls ot which the balls 15, so that when the pulley or casing is turned in one direction, say in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4, the balls will bind between the walls of the recesses 11 and the surface of the drum 12, thus turning the drum '1:9 and the engine shaft 11 forward; but when the engine shaft starts and its speed catches up with the speed of the casing or pulley, then the ball." l5 will run loose in the wider portions of. the recesses 1t. Instead of this arrangement, an ordinary ratchet and pawl connection can be used as shown in Fig. 5, but this is not so desirable. -\.s shown in the latter ligure, the drum 12 has ratchet. teeth 1li on its` face rngagiiig the pawl 17 on the pulley or casing 13. v

rflic apparatus is worked from an operat ingr lever 1S which as shown in lfigQl is fulci'uined near its lower end :is at 1t), and extends withiii easy reach of the 'ait of the autoiiiohile. The lower extreiiiit'y of the lever 1S pivotally connected with a rod Qt), and this is provided with a tui'n-biichie for adjusting its length. At its forward end the rod carries a pulleyv 22 ovenwhich runs the. operating cable-Q3, which cable runs also over suitable `guide pulleys 0'?" at. the is wound several corner of the machine,

times around the pulleys or casiiigs 153-1-"}, and also extends around a pulley 24 which is pivoted on a lever 18 above the fulcruin 19. The pulley 24- is prevented from rotating` by a vcommon ratchet arrangement shown iii Fig. G, such as is used on inaiiy'hand levers for analogous purposes. As shown, a slide Patented Fel). 17, 191i ett.

running loosely on the hub of the drum as shown clearly in theare inclined, and in these run rod 25 on the lever 18 acts as a pawl and enters the recess .26 in the pulley 24s, being normally pressed up by a spring 27, and the upper end of the rod connects with a crank 28 on the shaft 29 which is journaled on the lcver'lS, and has a handle 30 extending opposite the `gripping portion of the lever. rlhus by grasping the handle 30 with the lever 18,' the rod S25 is held irmly in the recesses 2li of the pulley 2st, thus locking the pulley.

The action of the apparatus will ,be best understood by reference to the diagram in Fig'. 7. YVhe-n the operator grasps the lever 18 andY handle 30, he will push the lever l'iackward and forward. Assuming that he pushes it forward first, this'v will draw back the rod 2O and pull on the pulley Q2, and as the pulley 211 is locked against rotation, the cable 23 will more on the pulley 1.3 so as to turn it in one direction, while the opposite direction will be given to the pulley 13, and when the lever 18 is reversed, the pulleyswill also be reversed in theirniove- 2 ment. Thus when one pulley or casingy 12% is moved so as to turn the drum 12 and engine shaft 11 in the direction to start the engine. the other pulley will be turned back a similar distance, and the pulleys will alternately operate to keep up a continuous movement of the engine shaft until the eugine is started. 1f, now, there should be any back-lire, it will be noticed that the travel of the engine shaft and drum 12 will be reversed, which in turn will reverse the Amovement of the cable 23 on one of the pulleys 13 or 13a, causing both pulleys to rotate in the same direction and rotate the lever pulleys 22 and Q4. The pulley 24. being thus turned back will bring a wall of the recess 2G against the rod or pawl 25,thereby moving the rod out ofengagement with the pulley 24 and forcing the handle B0 from the hand of the operator, after which the cable will move freely on the several pulleys till the pawl or rod is again thrown down preparatory to starting the engine.

Itwill be seen that there is no clutch connection between the engine shaft and crank shaftsuch as is common in apparatus of .this kind, that the operative connection between the lever 18 and the engine shaft is one embodying the longitudinally movable cable and .rotatable pulleys, and that the whole apparatus isextremely simple so that lits simplicity .combined with the easy movements of the parts render it practically cer- 4'tain thatl the parts will not get out of order.

' ,l claim 1. In an apparatus the combination with the engine shaft and a drum having a fixed connection therewith, of a pair of pulleys incasing the face' of ,the

of the kind described,

drum, a clutch connection between each pulley and the drum, whereby the alternate movement of the pulleys imparts a constant movement to the drum and its shaft, an oscillating lever, a cable and pulley connection between the lever andtheaforesaid drum pulleys by which the oscillation of the lever imparts a constant movement to the drum, and a manually operated locking device to secure the cable connection with the lever, said lockingY device being arranged to release on a back lire. y y

Q. In an apparatus ot the kind described, the combination with the engine shaft and a drum thereon, of a pair of pulleys loose on the drum and incasing the face thereof, a similarly arranged clutch connection between both pulleys andthe drum, an Oscillatine; lever, a pulley carriedby the'lever on one side of its fulcruni, a second pulley carried by the lever on the opposite side of its fulcrum, a cable running over the two lever pulleys and over the pulleys on the drum, and means releasable on a back tire .for locking one of the lever pulleys.

3. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with an engine shaft and a hand lever spaced from the shaft, of rotatable pulleys, each of said pulleys having a clutch operative on forward movement of l the pulley to eii'ect a connection with the shaft whereby vthe alternate forward movement. of the pulleys imparts a lconstant movement to the shaft, means for intermittently rotating the pulleys simultaneously in opposite directions, said means comprising an endless cable, the same endless cable.

adapted to operate over the said pulleys, the said cable having;` a connection with the hand lever at points above and below its fulcrum, and a manually closed locking 'device connecting the cablewith the lever, and means for arranging said locking device to release on a back-fire.

Al.. In an apparatus of the kind described,

the combination vwith the engine shaftyand a drum thereon, or' a pair of pulleys loose on the drum and incasing the face thereof, a similarly arranged clutch connection between the pulleys and the drum, an oscillat ing levert,i a 'pulley carried by the lever on one side of its fulcrum, a second pulley carried by the `.lever on the opposite side of its fulcrum, a cable running over the two lever pulleys and over the pulleys' on the drum,

and a manually closed latch on* the lever normally locking one of the-lever pulleys and released by the reversal of the movement of the cable. l

- ARTHUR. C. VVELLS.

Witnesses: A Y f WARREN B. HU'rruNsoN, TH'oMAs T. SEELYE. 

